The present invention relates to a pet toy, and more particularly to a pet toy providing various functions and benefits during play.
Chew toys are known, and are generally made of natural rubber or synthetic elastomers. They are available in various shapes designed to provide chewing exercise to a dog. Efforts are ordinarily made, in the design of a toy intended for chewing, to inhibit destruction of the toy by appropriate selection of size, shape and/or material.
Fetch toys are also a well known product in the pet trade. Many improvements have been suggested, including providing ball launchers that limit exposure of the dog owner to pet saliva during fetch play. These are commonly designed to be used to propel a standard-sized tennis ball, and are quite effective not only in limiting contact with saliva by allowing pickup of the ball by a distal portion of the launching device, but also in increasing a throwing distance. However, tennis balls have been known to contain substances, for example, in the glue used to attach the felt covering to the rubber interior structure, which can be toxic to dogs.
Other pet toys, which provide a treat dispensing function, are also known in the art, and generally include a chewable body having an interior hollow cavity accessible through a restricted opening via which treats can be introduced into the cavity. The stored treats are then randomly released from the toy through the same opening based upon movement or in response to chewing activity which forcibly releases the treats or pieces thereof. However, many of these toys have specific manufacturing requirements which limit production materials. For example, where a toy has a hollow interior chamber larger than the restricted treat introduction/treat release opening, an injection molding process cannot be readily used since it is not generally feasible to remove an oversized mold core used to create the interior hollow chamber through the much smaller opening. Consequently, manufacture of these toys is generally limited to natural rubber fabricating techniques (vulcanization while in a mold), since such processes permit a larger core to be withdrawn while the rubber is still soft and not fully vulcanized.
Like chew toys, efforts are normally taken to delay destruction of the treat release toys caused by chewing during the process of freeing the treats, by selective formulation of rubber. While there are certain thermoplastic synthetic elastomers available or which are custom engineered, and that are already used for some of the more durable chew toys presently available, which are much more resilient and tear-resistant than even the best natural rubber, processing of these engineered materials into a product requires the use of injection molding processes. Therefore, the use of these engineered elastomers does not present a viable option for producing a hollow treat releasing toy with resistance against destruction which is superior to that of natural rubber.
Furthermore, in accordance with conventional treat releasing toys, a number of treats are generally loosely held within a chamber, and therefore, there is a low degree of challenge for the pet to obtain a treat held within the toy. Various dental toys are also known which are designed to aid in removal of plaque from a pet's teeth during chewing of the toy. For example, toys including rope are thought to be helpful in cleaning the teeth of a pet, much in the manner of a human using floss.
A further drawback of the aforementioned toys resides in the fact that each type is directed to a dedicated one of the functions described.